.THE TECHNIQUE OF ADVERTISING
[To the Editor of THE SPECTATOR.]
Sm-,—The publishers of journals and magazines of the "'class " type, whom your correspondent, Mr. Stokes, takes to' task for not revealing their circulation figures, would like nothing better than to be able to make use of these in connexion with the sale of advertising space, if they felt that any good purpose could be served thereby. That they refuse to 'do so is not, as your correspondent seems to suggest, beeau-se they' want to mislead, or at any rate to mystify the `advertiser, but as a necessary precaution against wrong
conclusions being drawn from them. .
Admittedly, the cost of advertising must always be in an equitable ratio to the circulation or visibility of the medium, as your correspondent says. But circulation and visibility are two very different things, and whereas circulation figures can be certified, visibility cannot, and the visibility of weekly " class " publications which pass from hand to hand over a long period, may be anything-from six to fourteen times their net circulation.
In these cases, the prospective advertiser will find that a truer guide to the value of a medium than its circulation figures is his own judgement, based on observation of the amount and type of advertising which it habitually carries.—
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